Coins for Change
Coins for Change is an annual virtual charity that allows players to donate their virtual coins to various real-world causes. This was started in 2007, and continued in 2008 and is carrying on 2007 Coins For Change started in 2007 from December 14 to December 24, 2007, in which players could donate their virtual coins to any of three charitable issues: Kids who are sick, The Environment, and Kids in Developing Countries. Players could donate in increments of 50, 250, or 500 virtual coins. At the end of the campaign, the New Horizon Foundation donated a total of $1 million to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Free The Children. The proportion of the 1 million dollars that each organization received depended on how many virtual coins were donated by players toward each issue. For example, if most players donated their virtual coins to the environment, the environmental organization got a higher percentage than the others. Issue #115 of The Penguin Times stated that the standings were: *'Kid's Health' - 39.4%, $394,000 went to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation *'Environment' - 33%, $330,000 went to World Wide Fund for Nature *'Kids in Developing Countries' - 27.6%, $276,000 went to Free the Children A total of over two billion virtual coins were donated. 2008 Coins for Change returned for a second time on December 12, 2008. This time a total of 1 million dollars will be donated to: *'Kids who are sick' - 30%, $300,000 goes to Partners In Health to help provide medical care to children in Haiti and Rwanda. *'Kids who cannot afford to go to school' - 33%, donations given to the following two organisations: **$30,000 goes to Partners in the Horn of Africa to support education, play therapy, and structured activity programs for AIDS orphans in Ethiopia. **$340,000 goes to War Child to support education, children's rights, and poverty reduction for children affected by war in Georgia, Afghanistan, and Northern Uganda. *'Kids without parents or hurt by war' - 37%, $330,000 goes to Free The Children to help communities in India, Ecuador, and rural China build schools and provide education to children who are poor and can't attend school. This time a total of over three billion virtual coins were donated by two-and-a-half million people. In addition to the donations made to the above organisations, Club Penguin decided to contribute another $500,000 to support charitable causes in the areas where Club Penguin maintains international operations as they were so impressed by the enthusiastic response to Coins For Change. Then, in November 2009, Club Penguin announced for the third time that coins for change would be coming back. This time, over 400000000 coins were donated. I don't know how many for each one, but perhaps you could put that here. A few coins will be going to help Haiti too. Trivia * This event may return in 2010, since it was held in 2007, 2008, and 2009. *Some of the 2009 money will be going to help Haiti, in the earthquake that happned a few weeks ago. SWF http://media2.clubpenguin.com/www/flash/coins_change.swf